A local couple is about to begin a new chapter by opening the doors to their new bookstore.
Wild Aster Books, coming this spring to Chamblee, will feature books for both children and adults, with a stage for story times, performances, puppet shows and more.
“We carved out a space in our store just for that,” said Grace Smith, who owns the shop with her husband Tyler Smith. “We have seating that a lot of bookstores usually don’t have. We’re inviting people to come hang out and have it to be a third spot.”
The third spot refers to the settings that a person enjoys outside of work and home, like a library, coffee shop, or bar. This is the type of comfortable environment they aim to create with Wild Aster Books.
The Smiths, two film industry professionals originally from Ohio, decided in recent years to make a pivot to a new venture after having two children and thinking about what their next steps would be.
“We love bookstores,” Grace told What Now Atlanta. “Anywhere we go, that’s the place we would try to find. We love reading, we work in movies. It’s all stories, and storytelling is a part of our life’s work.”
When work slowed down in film as a result of the strikes in the entertainment industry, their passion for reading and books rose in tandem with their desire to try something new.
“Our reading has picked up,” Tyler said. “We were both in between shows a year or two ago. We charted out to see as many bookstores as we possibly could. We’ve seen pretty much all of them.”
The Smiths looked at plenty of places to find the perfect spot for Wild Aster Books, and they were pleased by the space at 3460 Chamblee Dunwoody Way, a traditional and charming building amid a sea of modern apartments and new builds. Grace’s background in set decoration comes in handy for designing the space, which will have a warm, comfortable and old-fashioned aesthetic.
“I wanted it to look like the attic from Little Women where it’s very whimsical and Victorian, 1800s, cozy. That’s what we’re going for there,” she said.
Ultimately, the Smiths want to create a family-friendly community hub where adults and children alike can have a venue for having fun and finding their next page-turner.
“We want to get people reading,” Tyler said.
They are targeting a mid-March opening for Wild Aster Books. The store will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. It will be located next to Stellow Coffee & Floral, an upcoming coffee shop expanding into its first brick-and-mortar space.
